Duran Duran plays arenas and stadiums in Japan, Canada and the US on the Sing Blue Silver tour; a documentary and a concert film are shot along the way. The live album Arena is released with the new studio single "The Wild Boys" as John and Andy begin working on their hard-rock side project, Power Station.

Artist Patrick Nagel, creator of the Rio album cover, dies of a heart attack at the age of 38

The Sing Blue Silver tour goes to America, accompanied by the documentary crew

Nick's girlfriend, Julie Anne, travels with the band during much of the tour.

During the US tour, Nick experiments with photography by manipulating images on his hotel room televisions using the TV controls, then taking pictures of the distorted results with his Polaroid. (published in the book interference)

German TV chart show Formel Eins airs a lip-synched performance of “Union of the Snake” (probably filmed late 1983)

Mar 5

Duran Duran: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (with The Payolas)Major portions of the video for “The Reflex” are filmed before and during the show; “Cracks in the Pavement” recorded at this show was used as the b-side to “The Wild Boys” single.

Mar 7

Duran Duran: The Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (with The Payolas)

Mar 8

Duran Duran: Civic Center, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (with The Payolas)CFRA 58AM radio station had a phone in poll to convince Duran to come to Ottawa

Mar 10

Duran Duran: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Mar 11

Duran Duran: Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine, USA

Mar 13

Duran Duran: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut, USA (no opening act)Show took place during a snowstorm, and the scheduled opening act couldn't reach the venue; only about half the audience for the sold-out date showed up.

Mar 14

Duran Duran: Worcester Centrum, Worcester, Massachussetts, USA Simon plays a joke on the band just before the show ("I've dislocated me elbow...the painkillers are rather good, actually.")

Concert sequences for the movie Arena filmed in Oakland (Gerry Laffy appears as one of the fans in the audience struck by lightning)

Apr 12

Duran Duran: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA, USA (with The Contractions)The opening act was poorly received by a rowdy and hysterical crowd; the Planet Heart bootleg is often labeled as this show, but was actually the 1982 Hammersmith Odeon show

Duran Duran: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA, USASomeone celebrated the end of the tour by hiring a stripper to dance and partially disrobe onstage during the end of the show; Julie Anne was reportedly very unhappy about the way she performed near Nick at the keyboards. bootlegged on Duranoid

Simon phones 19-year old model Yasmin Parveneh (whom he'd only seen in magazines) and invites her to a movie premiere; she thinks it's a joke and hangs up on him, but he persists until she agrees to a date

Yasmin expects to go to an ordinary cinema, but for their first date Simon takes her to the red carpet Royal Charity Premiere of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, also attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales

Additional crowd and concert footage for Arena is filmed at the Birmingham National Exhibition Center; the 2,000 free tickets are only available through the newspapers Birmingham Evening Mail and London Standard; numerous fans wind up dehydrated and somewhat crushed during several hours of filming

Two weeks after their first date, Simon dumps Yasmin “because she wouldn't have sex with me”

Jun

Studio footage for Arena filmed at Twickenham Studios in West London; a Mulcahy staffer goes into a nearby bar (where crew members from the film 1984 are taking a break) to ask if anyone would be willing to walk barelegged past a live tiger for cash, as none of the hired dancers would do it. (There were no takers.)

At the suggestion of the Berrows and Russell Mulcahy, As The Lights Go Down, a one-hour concert video, is created from Arena by trimming out the conceptual and storyline elements (John apparently was not keen on the idea)

John, Andy, Tony and Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs saxophonist, previously approached by Duran to join their live band) discuss doing an album with several different singers, and propose calling the project “Big Brother”

Tony Thompson approaches Mick Jagger about singing on the project

Mars is enthusiastic about the project; he rents studio time for a multitude of friends to come and jam (John, Andy, Tony, Bernard, Mars, Billy Idol, Steve Stevens, Tommy Price, Mick Ronson and Robert Palmer, among others)

Mars plays club shows around New York City under a variety of names, and many of these friends play live with him; other guests include Tim and Richard Butler, Paul Garristo, and Ian Hunter; during one show at the Limelight, John and Andy play with Mick Ronson

'The Source syndicated radio show airs across US, featuring tracks from Arena, the US premiere of “Do They Know It's Christmas?”, Rona Elliot interviewing Simon and Nick from Abbey Road studios in London, and fans' questions being answered

Nick holds an party for the opening of an exhibition (running through January 9) for Interference at the Hamilton Gallery, London; Julie Anne steals the headlines by wearing a dress that reveals a generous amount of derriere

Dec 28

BBC TV airs a special Christmas edition of the game show Pop Quiz; Duran Duran once again defeats Spandau Ballet